Here’s Andrew Cuomo explaining how he’s now wearing “two hats” – one as attorney general of the state and the other as a candidate for governor.

At his fourth consecutive press conference on an AG issue (for the record, I can’t recall a time when he has been this visible this many days in a row), Cuomo was asked how big of a priority he would make the legalization of gay marriage, assuming he’s elected.

Answer: “My opinion, from my policy point of view, it is a priority.” He also voiced confidence that he could get it done in his first year on the job – something that has so far eluded both Eliot Spitzer and Gov. David Paterson.

A reporter noted Cuomo has largely avoided talking about gay marriage and other controversial issues while serving as AG (on gay marriage, that makes sense, since he’s charged with enforcing state law, which doesn’t recognize same-sex marriages) and asked why he feels comfortable discussing the topic now.

“Because I have two hats now,” Cuomo explained. “For a while, I only wore one hat. One hat for attorney general of the state of new york, and that’s the job I did. Now i have two hats, though I have no hats with me today”

“I’m still doing my job as attorney general – that’s what today is all about. I’m also a candidate for governor of the state of new york. as a candidate for governor, people want to know.”

“…The announcement of the candidacy is when I started wearing two hats.Oobviously, you didn’t want to do that so early that you protracted the process. But I think it’s a fair question, and I think those types of questions between now and election day – it’s appropriate to be asked and appropriate to answer.”

“If there’s a conflict between the two hats, I’ll tell you that also, and there may be at times. This one doesn’t pose a conflict.”

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